Exodus 36:1 “And Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whom the Lord has put wisdom and understanding, to know how to do all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, shall do according to all that the Lord has commanded.”
It is amazing to realize that God is identifying these two artisans to Moses by their names and commending them as skilled, having wisdom and understanding. God also knows the names of every “gifted artisan.” God knows our names and our abilities!!! With everything God has to do to keep the universe going, God knows our names and every part of us. Psalm 139:1-6 tells us,
“1 O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
3 You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.
5 You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.
When God is instructing Moses on the creation of the Tabernacle, He mentions Bezalel and Aholiab by name, designating them as the chief artisans for this holy work. But it’s a mistake if we assume that God does not know the names of all the other skilled craftsmen and women, for God is the One who has created them with these gifts.
In a recent video commenting on the beginning of school, one educator has adjured all school workers to watch the children attending their schools carefully. School workers should watch out for the kids who have changed in any way, the kids who were happy last year and now are sad, the kids who were doing good school work and now are falling behind, the kids who are hiding during lunch period. These children might be facing bullying or family problems or even abject poverty so bad that they can’t even afford soap or deodorant or clean socks. Many times, it’s not teachers who have identified and encouraged such kids but janitors and bus drivers or cafeteria workers or crossing guards-people with minor positions but who are very perceptive.
You might feel very disgruntled, assuming that you are so insignificant that nobody knows you and nothing you do is important. But God knows your name just as He did those artisans in Israel, and God views your work as vital to His kingdom. Consider Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, a seventeenth century Catholic monk who served as a cook and sandal maker for the Discalced Carmelite Priory in Paris.
In the mid-17th century, a man named Nicolas Herman joined the Carmelite monastery in Paris, France. Wounded from fighting in the European Thirty Years’ war, and suffering a sustained leg injury, he took the monastic name “Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection.” He worked in the monastery kitchen and eventually became the head cook. Amid the chaos of food preparation and the clanging of pots and pans, Brother Lawrence began to practice a simple method of prayer that helped him return to an awareness of Divine presence. He called it the practice of the presence of God and described it as “the most sacred, the most robust, the easiest, and the most effective form of prayer.” [1]
Brother Lawrence’s method of prayer is so simple that it might seem misleading. It is to cultivate and hand over one’s awareness to God in every moment, in whatever we are doing. Brother Lawrence recommends that newcomers to the prayer use a phrase to recollect their intention toward the Divine presence, such as “‘My God, I am all yours,’ or ‘God of love, I love you with all my heart,’ or ‘Love, create in me a new heart,’ or any other phrases love produces on the spot.” [2] Practice of the Divine presence sometimes simply means taking brief pauses “to love God deep in our heart” and “savor grace.” [3] It involves a surrendered and resting trust in God to which one returns at all times. (https://cac.org/daily-meditations/brother-lawrence-of-the-resurrection/)
The entry in Wikipedia describes Lawrence this way:
Despite his lowly position in life and the priory, his character attracted many to him. He had a reputation for experiencing profound peace and visitors came to seek spiritual guidance from him.[10] The wisdom he passed on to them, in conversations and in letters, would later become the basis for the book The Practice of the Presence of God. The conversations had been conducted and recorded by a notable cleric, the Abbé Joseph de Beaufort, who compiled this work after Brother Lawrence died.[11] This little book was approved by Archbishop of Paris, Louis Antoine de Noailles. When the Archbishop of Paris approved the life of Brother Lawrence made by his Grand Vicar and in his own organisation, he approved that it is said that this brother “forgot himself and was willing to lose himself for God, That he no longer thought of virtue or his salvation … that he had always governed himself by love without interest.[12] The book consists of sixteen short Letters by himself, a short collection of Spiritual Maxims embodying his views, four Conversations, probably written down by M. Beaufort and a brief Life, apparently from the same hand. It became popular among Catholics and Protestants alike, with John Wesley,[13] Willard L Sperry,[14][15] A. W. Tozer[16] and Hannah Whitall Smith recommending it to others. Hannah Whitall Smith writes: “This little book seems to me one of the most helpful I know.”[17]
Father de Beaufort recalls that “Lawrence was open, eliciting confidence, letting you feel you could tell him anything … Once you got past the rough exterior you discovered unusual wisdom, a freedom beyond the reach of the ordinary lay brother”. God chooses those through whom He can work. Brother Lawrence continues to influence Christians today because he surrendered his work to God and allowed God to have full control.
When God sent the prophet Samuel to Jesse’s house in Bethlehem to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as the next king, Samuel looked at Jesse’s seven tall handsome sons and was certain one of them must be the one he was called to anoint. But God had other ideas. 1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” God rejected every one of those impressive-looking men. It was when Jesse finally called David, the youngest and smallest, from the sheep pasture, that God moved Samuel to anoint a son of Jesse. While the other young men had remained at home with their father, David was out there on the mountainside, protecting sheep and goats from wild animals and writing praise songs to God.
This morning, take heart! God knows your name! God knows your problems! And God wants you to enjoy His peace. Let’s pray.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, please cause everyone who reads these words to realize that You love them individually and that You know everything about them. Help them to realize that no matter where they are, You have called them to be there and they can be Your ministers, no matter how humble their job titles are. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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